In winter in the UK, sunshine and daylight is precious. When the sky is clear, I like to get up and out at a decent hour to catch those magical rays. At the end of November I wrapped up warm for a wheelchair bike ride on the Cuckoo Trail, in the lovely Sussex countryside.

We started at Hailsham, but next time will start at Hellingley to avoid some of the slopes. Also Hellingley is more out in the country than Hailsham. There are some slopes but a lot of long flat parts. In some places the path was wet and muddy with sludgy leaves, but its all surfaced underneath, so the wheelchair won’t sink you just get muddy wheels.

Precious Winter Light.

We only did a section of the trail back in November, so I will update this info when we have explored it further. Apparently there is a quite a steep bridge to cross at the Polegate end. At Hailsham there is a car park right next to the trail. Coming out of Hailsham the path cuts through some housing on quiet roads, but it is well signed how to get back on the trail. After that we continued towards Hellingley, there are some ups and downs but they are quite short, it’s fine if you have a strong helper. There is also a road to cross. Around the Hellingley area the trail flattens out so we continued on enjoying the countryside. We must have got halfway to Horam but had to turn back quite soon to get back in the fading daylight.

I can’t wait to come back to this trail when the daylight hours are longer.

More Info on the Cuckoo Trail

For general information on where to park and where you can access the Cuckoo Trail, take a look at this pdf : The Cuckoo Trail for walkers, cyclists and horseriders I hope this guide will include accessibility information (eg where the hilly parts are and which bits are more suitable for wheelchair users) next time they update it.